SO SAD to say goodbye to my mom on Friday. We had SUCH a wonderful time together! It's so hard to believe that her trip literally began with the birth of Isaac and what an amazing time it was. For her last week in NZ, we planned a road trip up the North Island. We needed to go up to Auckland to sort Isaac's passport and US documents and also to get his circumcision (they don't do it in Wellington!). We added a stop to Hobbiton and a stop in Taupo with the hot springs. It could have been really crazy with the hours in the car with 3 little kids, but everything went extremely smoothly and it was fun!
Here are some pictures from Hobbiton in Matamata, New Zealand. It was a great 2 hour tour of the Hobbiton village set that they used in both Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. It was incredible the attention to detail that went into creating Hobbiton. I was especially amazed by the Hobbit-sized vegetable gardens that they continue to maintain. There was something almost "Disney" about it, but more subdued. The tour finished with a drink in the Green Dragon pub. It made me want to trace the other LOTR/Hobbit filming spots around the country to provide to visiting US friends.
